Plants

I mentioned in an earlier post that we'd done a bunch of planting.

This is by far the biggest of the annual beds. It contains about 175 annuals this year. It's in deep shade almost the entire day, so contains the usual suspects: Impatiens and Coleus. There's a third plant type in there, but I don't recall what it is. Because it's an annual I'm not going to waste a brain cell remembering it.

We have 6 other annual beds scattered around the yard that have various plants appropriate for the the amount of sun in that area.

As usual we lost a few shrubs over the winter, so they had to be replaced.

These two are "Orchid Lights" Azalea. They have a light pink bloom in the spring and maintain a compact form. As they mature they will visually soften the edge of the cellar doors. They replace some arborvitae that suffered windburn in the winter wind tunnel that is our driveway. We've tried several aborvitae varieties here, but none have made it more than a couple years.

These three are "Java Red" Weigelia. It has dark red buds which open into deep pink blooms in late spring/early summer, a compact mounded form, and bronze foliage which complements the brick while contrasting with other plants in the vicinity. Like the Azalea, they replace some arborvitae that just weren't thriving in the driveway wind tunnel.

Switching to the north side of the house, we have several new Yews that finish the foundation plantings: "Emerald Spreader" and "Nova".  There were already 5 spreading yews that follow the curved wall on the left edge of the photo. "Emerald Spreader" is a low spreading yew that continues the line of similar yews to its left. "Nova" is the upright yew to the right that provides a visual anchor at the corner. Both should thrive in the deep shade that is the north side of the house. There are a matching pair at the left end of this bed to provide the necessary symmetry. It is a Georgian Colonial after all...

Next we move to the wall at the northern border of the kingdom. These five Dwarf Burning Bush replace the previous five that were in the same location. Even though we're south of the wall, the wildlings took their toll over the long winter. It wasn't so much the winter as the rabbits that girdled the previous plants.  Perhaps the new Guardian of the Garden (aka The King of Mulch Mountain) will do a better job of keeping the wildlings at bay...

Further west along the wall we have six "Iroquois Beauty" Black Chokeberry. They have white flowers in the spring, long-lasting berries in the summer, and a dark wine-red fall color. They help camouflage the wall and will provide a good understory for the new apple trees as they mature. The other three are positioned similarly at the other end of this bed. (Note the stump from the old apple tree which is already well into the process of decomposing.)

This isn't a new plant but is one that looks fantastic at the moment, especially from across the yard. In the left foreground is a bleeding heart which is still in bloom and on the right is an Azalea in full bloom; it's one of the "Northern Lights" series, but I don't remember which one. From the patio the two blend together and there is a striking mass of color. There is a similar pairing to the right of the peach tree.

Lastly, the "Susan" Magnolia in the northwest corner. It has a compact form, reaching perhaps 8-10 feet at maturity, and thick dark leaves that contrast with other adjacent foliage. It has reddish-purple flowers in late spring and tends to avoid frost damage, which is what did in its predecessor. "Susan" is the last chance for a Magnolia in this spot...